Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige said that if Eternals has a main character amongst its ensemble, it's Gemma Chan's Sersi.
As part of their spotlight on Chloé Zhao winning Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for her film Nomadland, Variety spoke to Feige about what the acclaimed director will bring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eternals, which Zhao pitched herself along with producer Nate Moore, will be heavily inspired by Jack Kirby and bring a new level of location shoots and practical effects to the MCU. It will also introduce a new group of diverse heroes.
"The notion of switching up the genders, sexualities and ethnicities of the characters from the comics, was baked in initially — that was part of what Nate Moore was really advocating for in moving Eternals to the top of the list for us to start working on. What exactly the makeup was between when Nate put together his internal discussion document, which is how we always start on all of our projects, and what she came in and did, I don’t recall exactly."
Feige went on to detail that while the film features a large ensemble and doesn't have a specific focus, Sersi, played by Chan, will be the de facto lead of the film.
"When it came to casting, that also did affect it. There were some characters that we change from male to female, there were some characters that we knew how we were altering them from the books. But then also it came down to casting. So for Sersi, for instance — and if there was a lead in this ensemble, it is Sersi, it is Gemma Chan — we looked at and read all sorts of women for that part. And ended up really believing that Gemma was best for it. And thankfully, she’s proven that to be the case in the final movie."
MCU fans will, of course, remember that Chan had a small role in Captain Marvel as one of the Kree soldiers in Carol Danvers' squad. Apparently, that didn't keep her out of the running for a lead role in another film.
Directed by Chloé Zhao from a screenplay by Matthew and Ryan Firpo, Eternals stars Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Barry Keoghan as Druig and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman/Black Knight. The film arrives in theaters Nov. 5.
Source: Variety